Book mark



T. J. MADDEN Aug. 11, 1964 BOOK MARK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 11,1965 i n. h, u.

INVENTOR. THOMAS J. MADDEN ATTOR/VfYS T. J. MADDEN Aug. 11, 1964 BOOKMARK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 11 1965 INVENTOR.

THOMAS J: MADDEN ATTORNEY? United States Patent O 3,143,998 BOOK MARKThomas J. Madden, 119 Westover Ave., West Caldwell, NJ. Filed June 11,1963, Ser. No. 287,023 2 Claims. (Cl. 116-119) This invention relates toa book mark and refers more particularly to a book mark which may beremovably attached to a book so that it is always available for use andwhich also serves as an advertising token.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a book markwhich in use is removably carried on the book with which it is used,obviating the chance that it may be lost or misplaced.

Another object is to provide a book mark in which the page marker servesthe additional function of being an advertising token.

Still another object is to provide a book mark device which is simple inconstruction and of indefinite life span.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent in thecourse of the following specification.

In achieving the aforementioned objectives of the present invention, itwas found advantageous to provide a book mark which has an elongatedclip member which can be attached to the top back of the book cover, theclip member has a hook which extends downwardly behind the back of thecover a distance into the pages of the book, and a main body portionextending downwardly on the outside of' the cover. A page marker disc isconnected with the clip member by means of a length of cord or otherflexible connector. A central space is provided on the page marker discwhereon may be provided advertising indicia, etc.

According to the invention, the main body portion of the clip member maybe provided with a piercing lug which is adapted to pierce the back ofthe book and penetrate through the binding into the pages of the book. Acinching cord connected at the bottom of the main body portion of theclip member may be looped around from the clip member, under the bookcover and cinched on the piercing lug. In this manner it is impossiblefor the clip member to come loose from the book cover.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingsshowing, by way of example, the preferred embodiments of the inventiveconcept.

In the drawings:

. FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a book mark constructed inaccordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view on a reduced scale of a book showing themanner in which the book mark is connected to the back of the bookcover.

FIGURE 3a is the same as FIGURE 3 except that it illustrates anothermanner of connecting the book mark wherein it is actually inserted intothe binding at the back of the book.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view through a book showing the mannerin which the clip member is connected thereto.

FIGURE 4a is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a bookshowing the manner of connecting the clip member thereto when the clipmember is inserted directly into the book binding.

FIGURE 5 is a front elevational view of a diiferent embodiment of thebook mark.

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational View of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view through a book showing the mannerin which the book mark illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6 is connected tothe back of the book cover.

Throughout the specification, like reference numerals are used toindicate like parts.

The book mark 10 illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 4 comprises a clip member11 which can be attached to the back of a book cover of a book 12 asseen in FIGURE 3 or actually inserted in the binding as shown in FIGURES3a and 4a. The clip member 11 has a flat elongated main body 13, theupper portion of which is turned over at substantially a right anglewith the main body to provide a flange 14. The main body 13 of the clipmember is provided with a pair of slots 15 and 16 as shown in FIG- URE lor at right angles to the position shown. A hook 17 is firmly connectedwith the underside of flange 14 and extends downwardly therefromsubstantially parallel with main body 13.

A page marker disc 18 is connected with the clip member 11 by means of aflexible connector member 19 as, for example, a piece of string, cord,or nylon line. The connector member is looped at one end through slots15 and 16 in the clip member, and at the other end through a slot 20located near the periphery of the page marker disc. A central space 21is provided on the page marker disc whereon may be marked indicia 22 foradvertising purposes, etc. It is also possible to secure a plurality ofpage marker discs 18, 18, 18" to the same clip member as shown in FIGURE3a so as to provide adequate page markers for use in books of areference nature where the reader may desire to refer to severalsections without losing his place in any particular section.

In operation:

Referring now in greater detail to FIGURES 3 and 4, the book mark 10 isintended for use with a book 12 such as the bound volume illustrated ora soft cover or paperback book widely used at the present time. It is,however, equally suited for and may be advantageously used with looseleaf filled volumes such as instruction manuals, etc. (not shown),wherein only front and rear cover pieces are provided to bind removablepages. It is also equally suited for use with soft cover or paperbackbooks. As seen in FIGURE 3, the book mark is connected with the book 12by mounting the clip member 11 on the cover of the book. As seen inFIGURE 4, the book 12 is generally provided with a cover or binding 23of leather, paper or similar material. The pages 24 of the book arecustomarily bound to the inner surface of the back of the book cover bymeans of an adhesive layer 25 applied to the pages and the back of thebook cover. The clip member 11 is connected with the book cover 23 byinsertinghook 17 downwardly inbetween the pages 24 of the book with themain body 13 of the clip member located on the outside of the back ofthe book cover. Flange 14 of the clip member will be supported on thetop of the book cover as shown in FIG- URE 4. In this manner, the pagemarker 18 is removably connected with the book with substantial securityso that the reader has the page marker 18 at hand at any given momentfor marking the page when he wishes to place the book down. Obviously,connector member 19 is provided with sufiicient length to permit thereader to place the page marker 18 well down near the bottom of the bookbetween the two pages as, for example, pages 86 and 87, at which heleaves off his reading. The page marker 18 also serves the purpose ofbeing an advertising token as previously mentioned. Of course, thecentral space 21 on the disc 18 may be used for other purposes as forexample, it could constitute a memorandum tag on which the reader mightwish to enter comments regarding the book he is reading. I

As seen in FIGURE 4a it is also possible to insert the book mark 10inbetween the binding 23 and adhesive layer 24 of the back of book 25.

FIGURES S to 7 illustrate another form of book mark 30 which comprisesclip member 31 having a flat main body 32, an upper flange 33, and ahook 34 integral with flange 33. A pair of slots 34 and 35 are alsoprovided in the main body 32 near the top. 'A page marker disc 36 isprovided and is connected with clip member 31 by means of flexibleconnector 37. In this embodiment the page marker disc 36 has a specialconfiguration to suit the purposes of advertisement. Thus the disc isshaped like a milk bottle since, by way of example, it is intended forthe purpose of advertising milk. It is also provided with a centralspace 38 whereon may be marked advertising indicia 39. A piercing lug 40is firmly connected with the lower part of main body 32 of the clipmember and extends away therefrom substantially parallel with flange 33.The piercing lug 40 has a pointed tip 41 and a section 42 of diminishedwidth. A cinching cord 43 is connected at one end in an opening 44 atthe bottom of the clip member.

In use, the book mark 30 is mounted on the back of the cover of a book50 in the same manner as that previously described for book mark 10.However, the piercing lug 40 is used to pierce the binding 51 andadhesive layer 52 so that it may be nested in the mass of the pages 54in the book and hold the main body 32 of the clip member in firm contactwith the back of the book. The

cinching cord 43 is then led under the bottom of the book and upwardlyto the piercing lug whereon it is wrapped in several'loops. Theadvantage of book mark 30 is that it cannot accidentally come loose fromthe book being removable therefrom only as a deliberate act as when the;

reader finishes with the book and has no further need for using a bookmark.

It is apparent that the book mark of the present invention offers theadvantages of being removably carried on the book for security, and thatthe page marker may be used as an advertising token. Furthermore, it issimple in construction and cheap to make. The clip member and pagemarker disc may be metal, plastic, wood, etc. Furthermore, the pagemarker disc may be made in any number of shapes as, for example,circular, square, triangular, bottle shape, heart shape or otherconfiguration that lends itself to enhancing the use of the disc as anadvertising token.

While there is above disclosed but some embodiments of the book mark, itis possible to produce still other embodiments without departing fromthe scope of the inventive concept herein disclosed.

What is claimed is:

1. A book mark comprising a substantially rigid clip.

member having a flat elongated main body, a flange firmly connected withsaid main body at one end and extendingflange and extending centrallytherefrom and parallel spaced from said main body in the direction ofthe other end of said main body for supporting said clip member on theback of the cover of a book with said flange extending over the top ofthe book cover and said hook downwardly in between the pages in thebook, at least one substantially flat page marker disc, said page markerdisc having a slot therein near the periphery of said disc, and anelongated flexible connector connected at one end in the slot in saidpage marker disc and at the other end in the slots in said clip member,said page marker disc having a centrally located indicia bearing spacethereon.

2. A book mark comprising a substantially rigid clip member having aflat elongated main body, a flange firmly connected with said main bodyat one end and extending at substantially a right angle thereto, saidmain body having a pair of parallel arranged slots located thereinadjacent said flange, a hook member firmly connected with said flangeand extending centrally therefrom and parallel spaced from said mainbody in the direction of the other end of said main body for supportingsaid clip member on the back of the cover of a book with said flangeextending over the top of the book cover and said hook downwardly inbetween the pages in the book, a piercing lug firmly connected with saidmain body adjacent said other end and extending outwardly therefrom andadapted for piercing the back of the cover of the book and engaging thebook in between the pages in the book near the bottom, a cinching cordconnected at one end with said main body and adapted to extend under thecover of the book and be looped around said piercing lug for maintainingsaid main body in firm contact with the book cover, said piercing lughaving a section of reduced diameter for receiving said cinching cord,at least one substantially flat page marker disc, said page marker dischaving a slot therein near the periphery of said disc, and an elongatedflexible connector connected at one end in the slot in said page markerdisc and at the other end in the slots in said clip member, said pagemarker disc having a centrally located indicia bearing space thereon.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS GreatBritain Dec.

1. A BOOK MARK COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID CLIP MEMBER HAVING AFLAT ELONGATED MAIN BODY, A FLANGE FIRMLY CONNECTED WITH SAID MAIN BODYAT ONE END AND EXTENDING AT SUBSTANTIALLY A RIGHT ANGLE THERETO, SAIDMAIN BODY HAVING A PAIR OF PARALLEL ARRANGED SLOTS LOCATED THEREINADJACENT SAID FLANGE, A HOOK MEMBER FIRMLY CONNECTED WITH SAID FLANGEAND EXTENDING CENTRALLY THEREFROM AND PARALLEL SPACED FROM SAID MAINBODY IN THE DIRECTION OF THE OTHER END OF SAID MAIN BODY FOR SUPPORTINGSAID CLIP MEMBER ON THE BACK OF THE COVER OF A BOOK WITH SAID FLANGEEXTENDING OVER THE TOP OF THE BOOK COVER AND SAID HOOK DOWNWARDLY INBETWEEN THE PAGES IN THE BOOK, AT LEAST ONE SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT PAGEMARKER DISC, SAID PAGE MARKER DISC HAVING A SLOT THEREIN NEAR THEPERIPHERY OF SAID DISC, AND AN ELONGATED FLEXIBLE CONNECTOR CONNECTED ATONE END IN THE SLOT IN SAID PAGE MARKER DISC AND AT THE OTHER END IN THESLOTS IN SAID